News

Chocks away for Heathrow by the Sea

TRANSPORT officials are to be ordered to draw up a business case for a new
four-runway "hub" airport. The news will delight supporters of the
proposed Thames estuary airport, which is backed by The Sunday Times and
Boris Johnson, the mayor of London.

The government has decided that to compete with rapidly expanding rivals on
the Continent, replacing Heathrow as Britain’s largest airport has become "a
case of when, not if".

Sources close to Justine Greening, the transport secretary, say she is
determined to find a "long-term solution" to Britain’s airport
crisis. A Whitehall source said: "The question is when we need a
new hub airport, rather than if ... We need to be looking at
long-term solutions."

Officials in the Department for Transport's aviation policy unit are on
standby to examine both short and long-term strategies to increase the
number of flights using Britain’s airports.